I don't think it would have been possible. Nico was faster that weekend and China is not Michael favorite track. It's a shame their car were only capable on a track Michael really didn't like in the past. Imagine a strong Mercedes at Suzuka or Spa - I would have no doubt. Michael would have shown some magic. What I do not like is this undertone of Clear saying Michael was not the fastest driver of the last 20 years only because he worked with Hakkinen. Hakkinen was perhaps faster on one lap (knowing his performance against Senna) but can't see him above Michael in race pace. He was not able to push his car around the track in qualifying trim - that's for sure. The McLaren was superior and Michael took the WDC to the last race in 1998.

I agree, Mika was indeed faster one one lap, which I believed that. But race pace, Michael was on anoher world in his prime compared to everyone else, even in 2012, the race craft was there.

Hm I´m not sure, they were within a tenth all weekend and it was just Q3 where Rosberg suddenly found a huge amount of time out of nowhere. Clear seem to think Nico just got an amazing set of tyres. tbh I don´t think his intention was to criticize Michael. His strenght were certainly the sundays and Clear is only talking about one-lap pace.

Afaik Rosberg had no wind on his run where other pole contenders like Schumacher had to fight the wind pretty hard, that was what I heard which explains a big part of the .5/.6 seconds difference between Rosberg and the rest.

About Hakkinen vs Schumacher: Martin Brundle analyzed them as well and he has the right to speak about it since he was team mates of both. He also thinks Hakkinen is SLIGHTLY faster (not a lot but slightly) over a lap where Schumacher has the edge over 300 km.

"I thought Mark's lap at Monaco was beautiful to watch. Michael Schumacher took the glory that day, but for my money it was Webber at Monaco who touched perfection. Beyond that, I have a liking for drivers who excel on circuits surrounded by walls and barriers - and who struggle when there are acres of run-off areas in which to play. Mark is one of those.

MS was adjusting break balance several times through the lap. MW wasn't. Do they have a different way to do that, or it was simply not needed? Both were pretty fine laps. I would find it very hard to make a decision on ranking purely on visual. We do know though that MS was a tad faster.

MS was adjusting break balance several times through the lap. MW wasn't. Do they have a different way to do that, or it was simply not needed? Both were pretty fine laps. I would find it very hard to make a decision on ranking purely on visual. We do know though that MS was a tad faster.

Schumacher likes to alter the braking behavior into different types of corners and from different entry speeds. He's used to doing it and makes it work, most normal drivers can't be dealing with the extra hassle.

Interesting interview, I think it confirm some of the stuff we discussed here. Tests, simulator. Bad car being the limiting factor.Also from Clear interview, he confirm my believe that Michael could have won China in second and third part of the race. Some people laughed here at me, saying that. We didn't know that Nico just get lucky with very good first set of tyre(Q and first stint).

Interestingly enough, Ross is also stating what some of us, I was one of them, suggested several times during his comeback, that some of his accidents could be linked to quality of drivers around him in midfield. Several posters were snarling at that suggestion, but any open minded person would understand that it takes two to tango, and simulator is not enough to teach you how to race wheel to wheel, which is a disadvantage to newcomers.

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One memorable, and most telling comments which I do remember came from Petrov, who declared to the whole world: I don't brake for Schumacher...

It's always good to see or hear RB's thoughts on MS, nobody knows him better, and he is in the position to benchmark his two careers. Saying that, there's hardly anything new or something we didn't already know there. I sincerely wish he could have found the motivation to go on another two-three years, but if you think about it, that would be asking too much. It's a pity the Wxx cars turned out to be dogs. It would have been huge fun seeing him in a podium capable, competitive car. He still had it in him.

Schumacher likes to alter the braking behavior into different types of corners and from different entry speeds. He's used to doing it and makes it work, most normal drivers can't be dealing with the extra hassle.

Plenty of other drivers do the same, and if they don't it's because it's not necessary. Not because they lack the skill or can't be bothered.

It's always good to see or hear RB's thoughts on MS, nobody knows him better, and he is in the position to benchmark his two careers. Saying that, there's hardly anything new or something we didn't already know there. I sincerely wish he could have found the motivation to go on another two-three years, but if you think about it, that would be asking too much. It's a pity the Wxx cars turned out to be dogs. It would have been huge fun seeing him in a podium capable, competitive car. He still had it in him.

For a second I thought Rubens Barichello when I saw the RB. But then I snapped out of it.... you meant Ross Brawn.

Plenty of other drivers do the same, and if they don't it's because it's not necessary. Not because they lack the skill or can't be bothered.

Don't think it as anything to do with skill, and yes, several other team's onboards show similar brake-balance adjustment during a lap. I checked some, and it seems as I said, that either it's unnecessary for them(RB), or they have a different way to do that. Red could simply be more advanced(in that too ) .

Don't think it as anything to do with skill, and yes, several other team's onboards show similar brake-balance adjustment during a lap. I checked some, and it seems as I said, that either it's unnecessary for them(RB), or they have a different way to do that. Red could simply be more advanced(in that too ) .

We see Michael drive qualifying laps while not making any adjustments to his brake balance and then he'll drive while frequently making adjustments. It all depends on the car and the track. It's all in his usual effort to extract the maximum from the car and he has the ability to multitask in that way. Not all the drivers can do this.

We see Michael drive qualifying laps while not making any adjustments to his brake balance and then he'll drive while frequently making adjustments. It all depends on the car and the track. It's all in his usual effort to extract the maximum from the car and he has the ability to multitask in that way. Not all the drivers can do this.

I've been reading "Michael Schumacher: The Edge of Greatness" by J.Allen, if you haven't read it please do as it's a great book, and these two excerpts were rather interesting and puts his racing characteristics into context.

"He never tried any shit one me. If you look even when I was Jaguar he stayed behind me once at Spa for seven or eight laps because he knew I wouldn't take any shit. Everyone says "Michael pulled over one me or pushed me off here". If you don't move your car he's going to have an accident and he won't do it again. And that's why I never understood these pricets with their complaining. Keep your car there, so he driver into you. If he drives into you he won't do it again, because he's fighting for the championship and you're not" - Eddie Irvine, who mentions that he wasn't a particularly great test driver and that, as any sane man would have it, his strengths lay in his anticipation rather than his reaction time.

"Respect is important to me. I used to have to fight a running battle with the drivers of the older generation, who played the role of master. If I believe what Gerhard Berger has told me then it was predominantly me who was treated in that way. None of them (Senna/Piquet/Mansell et al) liked me at first. They wanted to show the young lad the way things are. There were, for some instance, some nice brake tests. You would drive into a full power corner and suddenly the man in front is of the opinion he should his foot off and block you for a lap. And if you did the same to them, the older drivers coldn't stand it. They claimed I was arrogant if I complained about these incidents. Now that I am an experienced driver I would never act like that with the boys." - Schumacher, something that's incredibly telling of the racing enivornment in which he was brought up in.

In RC, the driver threads started with the Lewis Hamilton thread which was a discussion about a new up-and-coming driver who ought to make it into F1. Over a period of years the title of the thread was taken as a banner to discuss any and all aspects in which Lewis was involved, including lots of non-motorsport discussion, and it then spread to all other drivers who now have their own topic.

Threads like these have been looked upon by some as a 'fan appreciation' thread where dissenting opinions should not be given voice and by others as places to go to troll. It is this environment where the labels 'fanboy' and 'hater' or 'anti' have become ingrained and then employed more widely across the forum. During a race, progress is followed here instead of in the race thread or live forum; when a site releases a poll each driver thread is used to discuss that drivers position within it; when there is an incident, the thread for each driver involved becomes part of the extended battleground. In reality, the threads have become micro-communities where fans of particular drivers tend to discuss every aspect of F1 with other posters they feel comfortable with. Potentially good topics of discussion often go unnoticed by the more general membership who may have had something positive to contribute, because it was not clear the discussion was taking place.

We have decided that the threads are a barrier to the free flow of discussion and ideas and have taken the decision to ban driver threads as part of the introduction to our new rules, which can be found here (link).

As always, we are happy to listen to your views and opinions on how the forum is moderated but please, by PM only.